Glassell School of Art moves to temporary location as preparations for demolition begin

Glassell School moves to temporary location as demolition plans begin

The iconic glass bricks of the existing Glassell School of Art will be used in the new building.
Photo by Will Michels

The Glassell School of Art moves to temporary quarters on Holcombe Boulevard.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

A rendering of the new Glassell School building.
Rendering courtesy of Steven Holl Architects

Soon the familiar concrete and glass block building that has housed the Glassell School of Art since 1979 will be no more as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston moves forward with its $450 million expansion. But that is not to say that the highly-regarded art programs and classes will be on hiatus.

When the fall session begins in three weeks, Glassell School programs will go on as usual in a Texas Medical Center building on Holcombe at Alameda. The museum is renting space in the former Nabisco factory where renovations have been made to accommodate studio-arts programming. The new school, designed by Steven Holl Architects, is expected to open in late 2017.

The current building, designed under the direction of Seth Irvin Morris, who also was responsible for designing the Astrodome and Wortham Theater Center, will be vacated in the next few weeks at which point removal of the building's glass blocks will begin. Some of the iconic glass blocks will be saved and incorporated into the expansion project.

Demolition of the building will follow in late August or early September. Temporary fencing is going up soon in preparation for the work.